MENOPAUSE: The Elephant in the Room
Menopause is a silent yet massive economic issue, presenting an insidious barrier to women in the workplace. Employers and governments need to address menopause in order to get more women into leadership and/or retain them in managerial roles across all industries. Menopause is often endured in silence. Research indicates women are leaving their careers when […]
Looking at Foreign Policy Through a Gender Lens
It is just over a year since the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade adopted a ‘Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment’ strategy. However, international comparisons show there is still plenty of room to increase the gender focus as part of the forthcoming foreign policy white paper. Australian foreign policy should have a strong interest in […]
Why women are better than men…
If you type the headline of this article into Google, you will be bombarded with links, from ‘expert sources’ telling us that women ‘evolve better than men’ – apparently women are getting better looking through evolution; while men are staying the same – go figure! One of my favourites is: Why did God create man […]
Women: second class citizens
If women were classified as a standalone industry such as manufacturing, we would be the largest contributors to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Australia. Yes, we are the biggest spenders and the biggest contributors to the economy. In fact, women as a standalone industry are bigger than mining, which comes in at a close second. […]
The most important commercial opportunity in our lifetime
There are an estimated 3.6 million children under the age of 12 currently in need of some form of childcare in Australia including before and/or after school care, long day care, family day care, occasional care and informal care. Even though I don’t have children myself, I understand the urgency of enabling the 3.4 million […]
Omission with Permission?
From the last Supper, where one woman is alleged to have been included at the table, until today: exclusion and omission. The story remains the same! One woman in the federal cabinet, less than one in 10 executives are women, one female CEO and one female chair in all state and national business chambers. I […]
Where’s the logic?
World Bank data says women are a fail-safe investment, so why can’t we access capital in Australia? A few years ago, when working on an international John Lennon music project, I met with a long list of Angel investors, VCs and lenders. I was amazed, gobsmacked really, by their response. The main barrier was access […]
The Game of Sexual Politics
The rules of Chess have apparently changed little since its origins more than sixteen centuries ago. The objective is still the same; one team opposes the other and each aims to eliminate the other’s King. Although the King is the main character, so to speak, he is also the weakest piece on the chessboard, able […]
The Power of the Media
As a young journalism student the political influence of Australia’s few male media moguls was apparent; that was more than a quarter of a century ago. When I graduated the options were Murdoch, Packer, Holmes Court, Fairfax, Bond and Stokes. There wasn’t a woman in sight, not as an owner, nor as the head of […]
The Reality of Facts
The findings from the first national survey of women business owners and female entrepreneurs have been released and the findings mark a milestone for Australian women; to our understanding this is the first time a survey of this kind has been conducted in Australia about women business owners and female entrepreneurs. This important national report […]
